37 A new group
"Hup...!" Albert threw a body to a pile of other bodies before clasping his hands as if cleaning them.
"I love this feeling," He smiled under his blindfold. Just now, he easily handled the situation, and even learned a new way of acting.
'From here on out, I can't just keep appearing in front of people and acting cool...' He stood beside the pile of bodies and crossed his arms and thought with a serious expression. 'I also need to make sure that they completely fall into the play.'
Although his acting method until now had proven useful, his recent observations and the encounter with the treasure hoarders right now proved some of his theories.
"Now..." Albert then diverted his attention. "Fighting the Primo Geovishap for its Juvenile Jade..."
Albert was not gonna lie, he thinks that with his current abilities, he can't take on the Primo Geovishap. [Gáe Buidhe] can only inflict incurable wounds— to a monster like the Primo Geovishap, it was nothing.
Of course, that includes the fact that Albert has a Vision. After the fight with the Hydro Abyss Lector, Albert gained some insight into how to properly use his vision. Basically, to use elements, he needs to harness them with his willpower and use his willpower again to shape them to what he wants.
Which drains a lot of mental juice from him. As such, he won't be fighting with a lot of his clones in the meantime unless necessary.
Unless Albert reaches at least 50% of his current template or gets help from a powerful person, he would never attempt to court death.
Having these thoughts in mind, a light smirk appeared on Albert's face and he imagined a lightbulb appearing above his head. "Well... for me to raise my template progress, I need people to fool..."
"...and if I meet some people, there's a chance that I could meet some powerful people." Obviously, what Albert meant by "people" were other Vision-wielders and characters from the game!
Albert's mind quickly drifted to a thought. 'It would be nice if I could commission Mr. Zhongli to protect me if I have the chance...'
Zhongli, a seemingly ordinary consultant of a funeral parlor, and a Gep-type character. He's quite well-known in Liyue for his vast knowledge and wisdom, as well as being a proficient Geo-vision wielder.
He's humble and has a great personality. It's no wonder many admire him.
Obviously, some people think that he holds some secret— and they're correct. It's just that they don't know how deep his secrets are.
And Albert, as a player and a former story lover of the game, naturally knew of his secrets.
'However...' Albert then made a complicated expression. "Commissioning him is nigh-on impossible without any connections..."
Naturally, Zhongli won't just take commissions from just a random person. Unless, of course, that person is of high status.
Albert sat down cross-legged on the ground and started pondering seriously in his mind.
"Uh— what?" Suddenly, one of the treasure hoarders that was unconscious started showing signs of waking up.
Thump!*
"Shush." Albert quickly raised his hand and swiftly and carefully tapped the treasure hoarder's nape— making the latter go unconscious again.
After pondering for a few moments, a wide grin appeared on Albert's face again. 'Yeah... I think this plan would work if I play my cards right...'
"I already established an organization in Mondstadt... establishing another one here on Liyue won't be that hard." He muttered to himself as he reviewed the plan he just came up with.
"Alright!" He smiled before leaping from his cross-legged position to his two legs in an instant. He then approached the unconscious Treasure Hoarders and rummaged through their belonging before finding something.
It was a parchment paper. On it was a map that showed all the treasure hoarder camps in Minlin— including Lumberpick Valley, an area infested with tons of treasure hoarders.
Looking at the map, Albert's smile grew even brighter. "Like knocking two— no, three birds with one stone."
His plan included quite a few characters from the game. Including a certain female hydro bow character that works for the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Reviewing his initial outline for his plan one last time, Albert nodded. "Alright, time to get things started."
He opened his system and was just about to switch to his other template when he thought of something. "System... is there anything for me to buy in the shop to bring some of my skills from other templates to my current one?"
He found this problem. It was too troublesome to switch templates as they take a few minutes and cause some slight pain and discomfort. As such, he asked if the system has a way to carry some of his abilities to his current template without going through the trouble of searching.
Albert waited for a few moments before the system's notification window appeared in front of him.
[Name: Carried Skill Slot]
[Description: Carries a skill from other templates to the current template.]
[Price: 900 Credits]
Albert saw the merchandise that the system presented to him and whistled softly. 'This is undoubtedly a great thing... however...'
He squinted his eyes and looked at the price. He couldn't help but sigh with helplessness. "How many credits do I have right now?"
[1,214]
Albert felt his heart tighten as he looked at his accumulated credits. It was his hard-earned money that he had accumulated for a year. Seeing it go down by so much hurts him dearly.
Previously, when he bought Senu from the system shop, it only costs a few hundred credits. Back then, he thought that it was a great investment.
'Urgh...' With a heavy heart and a helpless face, Albert slowly extended his hand and purchased it. 'So long... my dear points...'
[Purchase successful.]
[900 Credits have been deducted.]
[Current credits: 314]
Albert only continued interacting with the system with a pained expression as he activated the newly bought item.
[Please select one skill from a template.]
[Note: Only one skill is allowed.]
Without hesitation, Albert chose the [Eagle Vision] from Ezio's template card. After all, it was the reason he even spent his credits.
[Eagle Vision] was very useful for him, additionally, paired with Senu, his investments would come to fruition.
Having all the necessary steps completed in the skill-carrying part, Albert inhaled and exhaled to calm his mind.
Then, with a low voice, he spoke softly. "Be my eyes, Senu!"
Whirr—
Almost instantaneously, an eagle appeared above him and circled around his location.
Albert closed his eyes and activated his eagle vision. A moment later, his vision paired with Senu's eyes and was able to see the area above him.
'Amazing...' Albert thought in awe. He then became serious and surveyed the land before internally nodding— satisfied with the results.
He turned off the Eagle Vision and his senses returned to his body. He looked up and looked at Senu before extending his arm out, signaling Senu to land.
Senu, with her excellent vision, saw Albert's arm and quickly flew down and landed on his arm.
"Good girl," Albert patted Senu before showing her the map in his hand. "We'll be going here, I trust you will guide me well, Senu."
Whing—!
Senu also communicated with Albert. During the time they had been together in Mondstadt, they had done and infiltrated various Treasure Hoarder camps, as such, they have mostly understood each other.
Understanding what Senu means, Albert smiled apologetically. "Forgive me, I'll give you some treats later. In the meantime, you can go and hunt while we travel, alright?"
Whirr—!
Although seemingly disappointed, Senu still obliged before flying off from Albert's arm and into the skies, guiding him.
"The Juvenile Jade for Cloud Retainer can wait— I need to first gather a group." Albert talked to himself as he turned around.
He then looked at the still-unconscious treasure hoarders and smiled. "A group that can attract the interest of Yelan..."
He bent down and rummaged through their belongings once more and found a pen and paper.
He took them and started writing a symbol. "I think... this would be the start of another chapter."
"Don't you think so?" After writing, he dropped the pen and paper near the treasure hoarders before leaving.
After leaving, the only things that remained were unconscious treasure hoarders and a piece of paper struck to the ground with a pen with a circular symbol written on it.
It was a symbol that had a skull facing sideways with a crown on top of its head, surrounded by vines.
"The High Table."
* * *
A/N: If you saw any misspellings or typos, know that I wrote in the middle of the night when ideas suddenly exploded in my head, so I just typed what I saw in my mind. Too tired to check for any errors. Might fix tomorrow.
